Sunday, June 29, 2008

What women prefer in men?

Women prefer men with stubble 'for love, sex & marriage'

London, June 29

There's no need to scratch your chin to cultivate why Bollywood heartthrobs like Akshay Kumar and Abhishek Bachchan prefer flaunting stubble -- well, it's the way to win a woman's heart, according to a new study.

Researchers in Britain have carried out the study and found that women are more attracted to men with stubbly chins than those with clean-shaven faces or full beards -- in fact, the fair sex prefers them for love, sex and marriage.

According to the researchers, stubbly men offer women the best worlds -- not too strongly masculine, but mature and with the potential to grow a full beard, British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph reported.

"Facial hair or beardedness is a powerful sociosexual signal, and an obvious biological marker of sexual maturity," said lead researcher Dr Nick Neave of Northumbria University.

In their study, the researchers altered pictures of 15 men's faces so that they showed various degrees of hairiness, using latest computer technology. Five levels of facial hair were used -- clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble, light beard and full beard.

The pictures were shown to 76 women who were asked to rate them for masculinity, aggression, dominance, age, social maturity and attractiveness. They were asked how desirable each man would be as a short-term or long-term partner.

The participants rated men with stubble as tough, mature, aggressive, dominant and masculine -- and as the best romantic partners, either for a fling or even for a long-term relationship, the researchers found.